Orders made over the internet, including both within Australia and from overseas, reaped more than $237 billion in revenues in the 2011-12 financial year over the year before, according to the IT Use and Innovation in Australian Business report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this week.

Information media and telecommunications businesses received the most online orders in 2011-12, followed by wholesale trade manufacturing whilst agriculture, forestry and fishing had the lowest proportion of online orders.

James van Rooyen and Jonathon Allara are two Australian entrepreneurs who started a bike hire company that has become one of the seven top selling bike companies in Australia. Van Rooyen who had a job in marketing, and Allara who was an accountant found out about the power of ecommerce and how it can transform their business into a successful one. They have started with a $16000 and setup Manly Bike Tours. Now, their company is selling over 5000 bikes a year, they have 13 staff, and makes a revenue of $3 million a year.

Due to the economic slowdown Australians are becoming more reliant on online business sites, which is just another way for boosting economy and going about increasing their savings. Online business is very successful and offers many benefits, whether it is used to increase the number of sales for a business, to get a business back on track or to start a new business from scratch.

ING Direct executive director Rob Hendriks says “Australians are very creative in boosting their income. We see an increased effort in selling goods online, taking additional jobs, and especially in New South Wales we see a lot of women entering the workforce.”